NJPW PPV Review: King Of Pro Wrestling

 

Find out my thoughts on one of the best shows of the year in my first ever NJPW PPV review after the jump!

Match 1:: Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi and Strongman vs. CHAOS (Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka and Tomohiro Ishii)

This match was Nakanishi's return from injury and that was the angle CHAOS worked for most of this match.  There was nothing particularly special about it, though the crowd ate up pretty much every bit of the action so that helped things tremendously.  Just a fun opener to kick off the show.

CHAOS earns the victory after 11:29 via. pinfall following a cradle pin from Yano to Nakanishi

 

Match Rating: **

One man in this photo should be drug tested immediately.....I'll let you decide on just who you think that should be

 

Match 2:: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match: Forever Hooligans(c) (Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov) vs. Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA)

I have to note that Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA have turned into quite the formidable duo for how long they've been together.  Koslov and Romero have also made my short list of teams to watch right now and this match was just an awesome effort by both teams.  This match brought the type of action I wanted from the opener and there was a lot to like in this one.  If you're a fan of the Motor City Machine Guns, then you'll dig the cool spinoffs of some of the more popular Guns  tandem offense by Shelley and KUSHIDA here.  If you're like me and enjoy Alex Shelley, but hate his cheesy theatrics, then you may find him incredibly annoying.  Other than that, great stuff.

Forever Hooligans def. Time Splitters after 14:55 via. pinfall following a rollup by Romero to KUSHIDA

 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Dick Heeldom for Dummies:: Chapter One: Laughing at your defeated opponents

 

 

Match 3:: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Low-Ki vs. Kota Ibushi(c)

YES!  One of the best (Ki) and THE best (Ibushi) high flyers in the world are set to go at it on one the biggest stages of the year!  This match was one of the more noteworthy Low-Ki performances of recent memory.  It's not up there with his matches vs. Prince Devitt, but it's worth a mention.  Kota Ibushi was not his usual "fuck balls to the wall, I'm going scrotum to the ceiling!!" self here, but he didn't completely phone it in either.  Not a bad thing at all as Low-Ki spent most of the match cutting off most of Ibushi's offense in the most kickass way possible.  Not the classic I was expecting, but worth a view.  There is also a great run in from Prince Devitt post-match and he challenges Low-Ki for the title. 

Low-Ki def. Kota Ibushi after 17:05 to become your NEW IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion via. pinfall following a Top Rope Fisherman Buster

 

Match Rating: ****

An impressive showing for The World Warrior

 

 

Match 4:: IWGP Tag Team Championship match: Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan(c) vs. Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer)

Satoshi Kojima has been one of the better performers in NJPW for quite some time now.  I hate seeing him muddled in tag team matches, but thankfully, the result of this one gives me some hope that I will be seeing him get a main event singles run in the near future.  This match was solid by any standards, but it isn't one that I will find myself watching again in future viewings.  TenKoji had great heat and that added some to the tad formulaic outline of the match.  Good to see Davey Boy Jr. (more well-known for his WWE stint as DH Smith) find some success overseas, but this isn't his best showing either.  A passable tag contest at best.

The Killer Elite Squad def. TenKoji after 12:47 to become the NEW IWGP Tag Team Champions via. pinfall following a Double Powerbomb to Kojima

 

Match Rating: **3/4

The two former WWE superstars have perhaps found their natural habitat

Match 5:: Tetsuya Naito vs. Yujiro Takahashi

 
Hard to even call this a match.  This was another angle that was meant to get Takahashi over and continue his elevation Mark Henry style by having him decimate his opponent's leg with a chair.  Naito is stretchered out after what was a nice bit of action.

Yujiro Takahashi def. Tetsuya Naito after 5:41 via. referee stoppage following an assault with two steel chairs

 

Match Rating: **

A surprising turn of events

Match 6:: Wataro Inoue and Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata and Kazushi Sakuraba

This match is pretty much what you expected it to be.  The crowd was very into this one and that's more than likely due to the Brock Lesnar-esque appeal of shooters like Sakuraba & Shibata.  They basically come in with the same format (Legit badass fighters come in to a wrestling company to beat the everloving piss out of the "sports entertainers") and it's a thoroughly enjoyable piece of work that offers up the sort of booking that people wanted from Lesnar's current run, but haven't really got yet. 

Shibata & Sakuraba def. Inoue & Wataro after 7:10 via. pinfall following a Running Kick from Shibata to Inoue

 

Match Rating: ***

Embarrassment Personified

Match 7:: Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight title #1 Contender's rights match: Kazuchika Okada (Rights Holder) vs. “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson

This sort of booking has been my beef with 90% of North American promotions for years now.  The number one contender for the title is being decided on a major PPV in a very high spot on the card.  Not only does this elevate the status of the potential challengers, but it makes the championship seem even more important.  Well, that is only if the two men involved give the sort of performance worthy of the number one contendership.  Thankfully, both men turn in the second best match of the night and damn near tore the roof off of the place.  Okada is Japan's hottest young star after his breathtaking ascent to the top of the wrestling scene at the ripe young age of 24.  You can feel it when you watch rare talents like this at work.  It's been a long time since we've seen this kind of potential in stars so young and it generates the kind of excitement needed right now in a landscape where even the most obsessive fans are growing tired of the repetitive booking of nearly every wrestling company's top talent.  A brilliant match and it's nice to see that Anderson didn't fall into obscurity when his partner Giant Bernard (now known in WWE as Tensai) left for "greener" pastures.  He has done very well at establishing himself and I look forward to where he goes next.  Still, this is Okada's year and he made sure everyone was sure of that tonight.

Kazuchika Okada def. Karl Anderson after 16:26 via. pinfall following The Rainmaker

 

Match Rating: ****1/2

Not even the most brutal of Anderson's offense was enough to keep Okada down

Match 8:: IWGP Intercontinental Championship match: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Hirooki Goto

For those of you who are unfamiliar with NJPW and Nakamura, let me give you a brief introduction.  While Hiroshi Tanahashi (see the main event) has often been cited as being the Japanese version of John Cena, Shinsuke Nakamura has had the unenviable task of playing the Randy Orton/Dave Batista second fiddle role, being that he's nearly as popular and every bit the star performer, but he just hasn't gotten to the transcendent level of his superior over the years.  The result?  The guy adopted a new attitude so badass it would make Randy Orton seem like a Carebear in comparison...

Seriously, the guy has turned shrugging people off into an art form

No doubt about it, he's as awesome as they come.  But again, like Orton, Nakamura's persona is usually enough to carry even the lamest of matches to passable territory, but that is never really a good thing.  It's not a knock, just a testament as to why he has not surpassed Tanahashi as NJPW's ace.  He is still the man, but being the best is not justifiable by "it" factor alone.  That being said, things did pick up a bit mid-match and they did turn in a pretty thrilling last few minutes, but It's definitely not going to be on the list of matches I'd recommend to anyone witnessing Nakamura's work for the first time.

 

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Hirooki Goto after 15:12 via. pinfall following the BOMA YE! (running knee trembler)

 

Match Rating: ***1/2

"What's that?  That wasn't the best match of the night?  Oh....Am I supposed to care?"

 

A video package is shown hyping the IWGP title clash between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Minoru Suzuki signaling that it is now time for our


 

MAIN EVENT

 

Match 9:: IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi(c) vs. Minoru Suzuki

This was an absolutely outstanding match. The whole show should be in the argument of the best of the year, but these two owned the night. Things started off pretty good, but then Tanahashi got cocky and played "air guitar" on Suzuki while he had him in an abdominal stretch. Holy shit it was a dumb idea...

The face of many a Tanahashi nightmare from here on out

Suzuki became enraged and proceeded to put on the performance of a lifetime. He ferociously worked Hiroshi's injured arm all the while throwing some of the stiffest shots that I've ever seen.  It was just brutal.  Tanahashi also worked Minoru Suzuki's leg the whole time and Minoru sold it like a champion.  In fact, it was some of the best selling I've ever seen in my life.  No lie, I really believed he was hurt.  In my life I have never seen anyone work the formula these two did here and have it be so damn compelling the whole time.  Both men have done something really special in this match by being able to tear the house down without the use of near falls and sticking to a very old school style.   Amazing.   Do yourself a favor and get your hands on this match.  It's everything you could want in a main event.  This is why I love pro wrestling.  There's just something about a great competitive world title match that when done right, can be the most rewarding viewing experience money can buy.  I can only imagine how proud of their work both men must be after an amazing effort like that.  Hell, why don't I just ask them:

"Gentleman how does it feel to know that you've just contested in what has to be mentioned amongst the greatest matches in the history of professional wrestling?!........You know........um........I'll just come back another time...."

All jokes aside, I know this is going to be a match I will watch again and again and again in the years to come.  I can not put it any more simply than this.  This is the 2012 Match Of The Year.  Bar None. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Minoru Suzuki after 29:22 via. pinfall following the High Fly Flow (Frog Splash)

 

Match Rating: *****

A truly epic victory

After the title presentation Yujiro comes out, in a shirt saying “We Run Shit” and his sunglasses, to challenge Tanahashi for the title.  Tanahashi plays some air guitar as the show comes to a close.

Final Thoughts

Hands down, this was one of the best shows of the year.  It had the intensity of Extreme Rules, the spectacle of Wrestlemania and the variety of Glory By Honor.  What an IPPV debut!!  Just an unbelievable show with every match serving their purpose and a main event that was absolute perfection.  This is what you want in a wrestling show.  I'm already on my third playthrough as we speak.  You should be too.  So if you haven't seen this one yet, go check it out.  Thank me later.

Overall PPV Score: 10/10

 

PPV Awards

Match of the Night: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki
Performer of the Night: Minoru Suzuki
Moment of the Night: Hiroshi Tanahashi attempts to "air guitar" Minoru Suzuki
Segment of the Night: Nothing too memorable
Surprise of the Night: Testuya Naito gets taken out